A big outdoor griddle can change what summer feels like. And the best flat-top grills can make dinner feel like an event to be proud of. What's a more satisfying sound than the slap of a spatula onto the chopped onions and rib eye meant for a perfect cheesesteak? The blister of corn tortillas cooked in the grease left by hard-seared carne asada? The smash of a burger at a backyard barbecue? The blessed evenness of pancakes cooked on a well-seasoned griddle plate? All you need is a great griddle to set you up for success.

An outdoor gas griddle is an essential backyard counterpart to the satisfying direct heat of a high-performing charcoal or wood-fired grill—adding all the versatility of your favorite diner to your sunny-day toolkit. I've spent months cooking dozens of smashburgers, bacon strips, tacos, and pancakes to find the best outdoor griddle for each kind of backyard cook. Now, I find myself using the griddle more than a classic grill.

My top-rated Traeger Flatrock ($1,000) offers the most even and reliable heat out of any I tested, and it feels like a Cadillac idling in the yard. Meanwhile, the rust-resistant four-burner 36-inch Weber Slate ($1,049) provides a broad cooking surface, an easier seasoning process, and the best array of features to build out a flat-top grill into a true workstation. For those keeping it to a tighter budget, my best recommendation is just to downsize your Weber. The compact 28-inch Weber Slate is the best value at $798, edging out lower-cost brands whose durability is less assured.

For more outdoor cooking action, check out WIRED's guide to the Best Pizza Ovens, Best Smokeless Firepits, and Best Cast Iron Pans.

Updated May 2026: I added the 28-inch Weber Slate, the Solo Stove Stainless Griddle, and the 22-inch Weber Slate portable griddle. I moved the LoCo 36-inch griddle to honorable mentions. I also added context and updates on griddle performance over time and ensured up-to-date links and prices.

Best Griddle Overall

I grew up in Oregon, where Traeger was also born. Even after the company sold and moved to Utah, a Traeger grill or smoker in the backyard has remained a source of both aspiration and pride for those who raised me—a sign you're living right and doing OK. This sturdy-built three-zone Flatrock griddle lends the same vibe.

The constant enemy of flat-top grills is uneven heat, a byproduct of the amount of thermal energy it takes to heat up thick steel or iron plates. This Traeger, as much as any flat-top grill I've tried, is designed to offer impressively even heat distribution despite the thickness of its burner. The secret is the three U-shaped burners that essentially double the heat sources under thermally conductive, thick carbon steel. The Flatrock also grants tight temperature control between zones and sterling wind shielding on top and under the burners. Throughout a year of cooks, I've had no flameouts. There's barely even a hot spot, with less than 20-degree variation across the main cooking space. This means even, easy seasoning on the grill to cook nicely browned pancakes; burgers that cook the same way all across the surface; and easy temperature regulation among veggies, meat, buns, tortillas.

The Flatrock is big, it's built sturdily, and it doesn't shake or wobble. It holds fast with the casters locked on its wheels. If you keep it plugged in, a handy extra feature lets you check on the fill status of your propane tank. It doesn't heat super-hot (clocking in just under 600 degrees Fahrenheit), which isn't ideal if you're trying to attain a super-fast sear on a smashburger, but the temp remains beautifully stable for the more dignified sear of a fish or a steak.

The worktop is spacious and is separated well from the heat of the cooking surface, though I wish the side shelves came with hooks for grill tools. But if a backyard griddle is a constant labor of love, this flat-top grill that will return the love you pour into it. Traeger also offers a slightly smaller, more affordable two-zone option ($800).

Best Griddle for Value and Features

Speaking as someone who's built and seasoned and tested and cooked on a lot of griddles this year, it was a candy-store–level treat that the griddle plate on Weber's Slate line of griddles arrives pre-seasoned, pressure-treated against rust, and fully ready to cook, with a five-year warranty to back it up. Seasoning a griddle is a constant process, and that's true for this Weber grill, too. But building that first base coat of oil seasoning can be time-consuming and can take more than an hour, multiple cooks, and a little bit of skill. I still laid down an extra coat of seasoning, but it took less oil, less time, and less worry. Thank god.

This Slate 36-inch four-burner is a 48,000 BTU beast, sturdily built, with a carbon-steel griddle top and a pile of thoughtful features. A clever, weight-based system estimates the amount of liquid propane you've got left in a standard 20-pound tank, while an electronic feature indicates the temperature on the main cooking surface. The work station is the most spacious of any I've tried, with a fold-down extension I haven't seen from other grill makers. And because it's Weber, you can trick out the side table even more with a mess of add-ons like a hangable storage bin ($42) or condiment caddy ($25). A natural gas version is also available.

And yet, the smaller-format Weber Slates also offer the best value out of any we've tested. The 3-burner, 28-inch Slate griddle, which WIRED reviewer Joe Ray tested in 2023 in an earlier format, is a fraction of the price of its 36-inch big brother. It still offers three burners, 36,000 BTUs, the same rust-resistant carbon steel griddle plate, and the same ability to expand the workspace on its side tables using Weber's accessory kit. For that, you're giving up a bit of cooking surface and a pair of casters.

The Slate line includes easily the best feature set of any griddle I tested. But the Slate does have some clear hot spots above the burners, with about a 50-degree variation across the main griddle cooking area. That's actually pretty good compared to most others on the market, but it kept this excellent griddle just below the Traeger Flatrock on cooking performance.

Best Portable Griddle

There's a reason professional kitchens use stainless steel griddles. Stainless steel (mostly) doesn't rust. It's easy to clean, whether with soap or with Barkeeper's Friend. While you can build up an oil patina over time—and I recommend you do so—the surface doesn't need the patina as protection.

These same easy-care reasons are why I like this stainless-steel Solo Steelfire so much as a portable camping griddle, in conditions where you might not have full control of the environment. You don't need to worry about it getting wet or carefully cleaning it. The griddle top is easy transport and scrub by hand. A cart is available for $300, making the Solo into a full home setup, complete with side tables. But removing the griddle for transport is as easy as picking it up off the cart.

The 30-inch solo Steelfire has one of the most ingenious burner setups I've tested: It's a criss-crossing “racetrack” design that leads to even heat across the surface and full edge-to-edge cooking on the burner's oval shape—unlike pretty much every other burner on the market, whose square corners never cook. The three-ply stainless steel griddle also heats up quite quickly. Solo claims searing temps are possible after about seven minutes, but in practice, you get closer to about 400 or 450 degrees Fahrenheit by then. True searing temps need five or so more minutes.

This thing has excellent two-zone, even heat, allowing for meat on one side, pancakes and eggs on the other. But note that it'll take a bit of practice finding the right low-heat settings: Keep the knobs closer to low if you're looking to control heat. And, of course, there's the simple fact that stainless steel is expensive. The 22-inch Solo Stove Steelfire Griddle is far more economical at $399.

Best portable griddle on a budget: I have not tested the smaller Solo Stove Steelfire, which has a quite different design from its 30-inch cousin. But the lower-cost portable griddle I am happily able to recommend is the Weber Slate 22-Inch Griddle ($379), a smaller, two-burner take on Weber's classic Slate rust-resistant models. As is the case with the larger version, heat distribution is not quite as even as with the Traeger or Solo Stove. But it's reliable, it cooks well, and the pre-seasoning is a lifesaver when it's time for setup. Note that you'll probably still want to add a layer of seasoning—and that you still need to keep seasoning over time.

Best Griddle With an Air Fryer

Blackstone Products sold a generation of backyard flametenders on the idea that fajitas are a human right. A Blackstone griddle's rear grease system, with a hole in the back of the griddle plate to shuttle away oil and then forget about it, is my favorite among the various griddle makers. And the cold-rolled steel construction means this four-burner Iron Forged griddle heats faster than any other on this list—topping 500 degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes.

And then here's this crazy “hold my beer” idea: A warming drawer and two stainless-steel air fryer baskets heated by a fifth propane burner underneath, with airflow coming from a 75-watt electric fan that needs to be plugged in. A griddle definitely does not need an air fryer, as I wrote in my review of the Blackstone Iron Forged 36-inch Griddle with Air Fryer. But lord, I do like fries with my smashburger, and this griddle delivers golden-crispy ones with the lower burner on high. (Temps range from about 325 degrees Fahrenheit on low, up to 450 degrees after 20 minutes of preheat on high.)

All of this is great, but that combination of high heat and high thermal transfer into the cold-rolled griddle plate also adds up to uneven temperatures —which can vary by as much as 100 degrees Fahrenheit across the burner plate. This requires close attention during cooks.

Best Griddle For Smashburgers

This Cuisinart griddle is not perfect. Its burners can run pretty hot underneath the 28-inch carbon steel plate, and that can mean hot spots and some unevenness in temperature. This makes seasoning a bit difficult to maintain, and requires some attention and judicious use of an infrared thermometer to monitor surface temps. That said, hot means hot, and high temperature can matter if you're trying to make a smashburger that needs to caramelize against the flat-top at close to 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

This flat-top grill is a backyard standup I tested that will handily achieve this hot function, with a griddle-plate center that can crest 650 degrees pretty easily in about 15 minutes (and can get above 500 degrees in half this time.) If my main goal for a griddle is to get fast, high-heat sears on smashburgers or other meats, this capability will cover for many sins. Cuisinart also loves multi-function devices, and this one is a pretty smart idea: Basically, the heat from the burners is fed to a lower toaster-broiler chamber, which is not wildly powerful but great for burger buns. A caveat, however: The knobs are low-quality, which is starting to feel like a standing issue for Cuisinart griddles and grills. After a year's use, I've had to call in a replacement knob.

Also Tested

Cuisinart Propel+ 4-Burner 3-in-1 Gas Grill for $1,000: This Cuisinart offers a pretty small griddle surface compared to other picks on this list, and the construction can be a little clattery. But I did find this Cuisinart pizza oven, grill, and griddle to be one of the rare multi-cookers that's more than the sum of its parts. The Propel+ is a standard four-burner grill with a pair of side tables. But its lid is shaped into the squashed arch of a pizza oven, with a pizza stone that can be affixed to the grill top to achieve admirable pies at around 700 degrees. Open up the right-side grill table, and there's a fifth burner with a 176-square-inch cast iron griddle surface. The griddle has a bit of a hot spot over the burner, but maintains temp well above 600 degrees Fahrenheit and offers great sear on a couple of two-patty smashburgers at a time.

LoCo Cookers 36-Inch 3-Burner SmartTemp for $399: Georgia-based LoCo previously made my top value pick for its impressive heat distribution—not to mention temperature dials on its three burners that kept temperature accurate within about 20 degrees Fahrenheit of the expected temperature in each zone. The temperature is managed through a series of thermocouple sensors under the griddle plate. This is unusual and impressive functionality for a backyard griddle, especially at this price range, and it worked quite well throughout a few weeks of cooks that included pancakes and bacon, tacos, burgers, pork chops, and more tacos. But after seeing reports of problems with durability (especially on those thermocouples) and considering its shorter, one-year limited warranty, I knocked this down to our honorable mentions, pending further testing.

Nexgrill 4-Burner Daytona for $400: The price is attractive on this Nexgrill four-burner, but the heat from its 60,000 BTU burners seemed to be going everywhere but the griddle plate on the model I tested. The sides and back of the case got pretty hot, but it took well over a half-hour for any part of the griddle to get anywhere near 500 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, most of the griddle plate's surface didn't ever get hot enough to hit the smoke point of the oil I used to season the griddle.

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